Patrick Mcmahon
Editor’s Note: Images contain fairly large amounts of blood.
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Joshua Witt says he’s in the Navy, not a neo-Nazi. But last week, he claims someone confused the two — and it almost cost him his life.
“Apparently I look like a neo-nazi and got stabbed for it … luckily I put my hands up to stop it so he only stabbed my hand…. please keep in mind there was no conversation between me and this dude I was literally just getting out of my car,” the Boatswain’s Mate wrote in a post on Facebook.
The New York Post reports that Witt had just finished an appointment at a chiropractor’s office and gone to a Steak ‘n Shake in Sheridan, Colo., when the attack happened.
“As I got out of my car all I hear is ‘you one of them neo-nazi[s]?'” Witt wrote in a comment on his initial post. “[T]he dude was swinging a small pocket knife over my car door …. then he took off running and I was just sitting there in shock like what the heck dude.”
What the heck, indeed. Witt added that “the dude was actually aiming for [his] head,” counting himself lucky that he “put [his] hands up.”
He says the attack was totally unprovoked and, at first, had no idea how he could have been identified as a neo-Nazi.
“I have no tattoos that would indicate anything like that. There is nothing on the car that I am aware of that might suggest it,” he continued in the Facebook comment. “My head is not shaved.”
But he later told the New York Post that he suspected his hair — shaved short on the sides and worn long on the top — had something to do with it.
In recent years, similar cuts like the pompadour and undercut have grown popular. Men in white nationalist circles, like Richard Spencer, have co-opted them as well, sometimes choosing a version of the undercut that was once worn by members of the Hitler Youth.
Witt seems to be choosing to learn from the encounter and is grateful to be alive.
“Sounds like you need to get your carry permit and buy a handgun,” a friend wrote.
“Tell me about it,” Witt responded.
